Assessor-Recorder Chu Ensures Greater Transparency For Public Through Passage of Local Ordinance

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ASSESSOR-RECORER CARMEN CHU ENSURES GREATER TRANSPARENCY
FOR PUBLIC THROUGH PASSAGE OF LOCAL ORDINANCE
The Office of the Assessor-Recorder helped pass legislation to streamline all public information
available on the same recorded document
 

San Francisco, CA – Assessor-Recorder Carmen Chu today announced the Board of Supervisors passed a local ordinance requiring all transfer tax paid to the City and County of San Francisco be shown on the front page of the recorded deed.  The legislation allows for information related to a property transfer be made available solely on one document, promoting greater transparency for the public.

Assessor-Recorder Chu stated, “We as a city department pride ourselves on providing superior customer service. By making these legislative changes to the local code, we are generating trust with taxpayers through promoting accountability, strengthening transparency, and making information more readily accessible to all.”

With a very hot real estate market, the subject of transfer tax amount is very popular and is commonly requested from our office by taxpayers and private entities to help identify the sale price of a property. In many instances, a buyer or seller may request to have the transfer tax amount recorded on a separate page from the deed, suppressing the transfer tax amount from public inspection. In doing so, the work of the Assessor-Recorder’s Office is impacted due to additional research that’s required and work-process inefficiencies.  By making this legislative change, all transfer tax amounts will now be shown on the front cover of a recorded deed, simplifying the work of the Office of the Assessor-Recorder.

The California State Legislature passed AB 1888 last year authorizing the board of supervisors of a county to delete the requirement that, upon request, the amount of tax due be shown on a separate paper affixed to the document.  The local ordinance (#150495), sponsored by Supervisor Mark Farrell, amended Business and Tax Regulations Code, Article 2-C, Sections 1111 and 1113, and eliminated the requirement that the Recorder’s Office show the amount of transfer tax due for a change of ownership on a separate page from the deed upon request.

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